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--- title: Coding Style category: Contributing layout: default SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later --- # Coding Style ## Formatting - 8ch indent, no tabs, except for files in `man/` which are 2ch indent, and still no tabs, and shell scripts, which are 4ch indent, and no tabs either. - We prefer `/* comments */` over `// comments` in code you commit, please. This way `// comments` are left for developers to use for local, temporary commenting of code for debug purposes (i.e. uncommittable stuff), making such comments easily discernible from explanatory, documenting code comments (i.e. committable stuff). - Don't break code lines too eagerly. We do **not** force line breaks at 80ch, all of today's screens should be much larger than that. But then again, don't overdo it, ~109ch should be enough really. The `.editorconfig`, `.vimrc` and `.dir-locals.el` files contained in the repository will set this limit up for you automatically, if you let them (as well as a few other things). Please note that emacs loads `.dir-locals.el` automatically, but vim needs to be configured to load `.vimrc`, see that file for instructions. - If you break a function declaration over multiple lines, do it like this: ```c void some_function( int foo, bool bar, char baz) { int a, b, c; ``` (i.e. use double indentation — 16 spaces — for the parameter list.) - Try to write this: ```c void foo() { } ``` instead of this: ```c void foo() { } ``` - Function return types should be seen/written as whole, i.e. write this: ```c const char* foo(const char *input); ``` instead of this: ```c const char *foo(const char *input); ``` - Single-line `if` blocks should not be enclosed in `{}`. Write this: ```c if (foobar) waldo(); ``` instead of this: ```c if (foobar) { waldo(); } ``` - Do not write `foo ()`, write `foo()`. - `else` blocks should generally start on the same line as the closing `}`: ```c if (foobar) { find(); waldo(); } else dont_find_waldo(); ``` - Please define flags types like this: ```c typedef enum FoobarFlags { FOOBAR_QUUX = 1 << 0, FOOBAR_WALDO = 1 << 1, FOOBAR_XOXO = 1 << 2, … } FoobarFlags; ``` i.e. use an enum for it, if possible. Indicate bit values via `1 <<` expressions, and align them vertically. Define both an enum and a type for it. - If you define (non-flags) enums, follow this template: ```c typedef enum FoobarMode { FOOBAR_AAA, FOOBAR_BBB, FOOBAR_CCC, … _FOOBAR_MAX, _FOOBAR_INVALID = -EINVAL, } FoobarMode; ``` i.e. define a `_MAX` enum for the largest defined enum value, plus one. Since this is not a regular enum value, prefix it with `_`. Also, define a special "invalid" enum value, and set it to `-EINVAL`. That way the enum type can safely be used to propagate conversion errors. - If you define an enum in a public API, be extra careful, as the size of the enum might change when new values are added, which would break ABI compatibility. Since we typically want to allow adding new enum values to an existing enum type with later API versions, please use the `_SD_ENUM_FORCE_S64()` macro in the enum definition, which forces the size of the enum to be signed 64-bit wide. - Empty lines to separate code blocks are a good thing, please add them abundantly. However, please stick to one at a time, i.e. multiple empty lines immediately following each other are not OK. Also, we try to keep function calls and their immediate error handling together. Hence: ```c /* → empty line here is good */ r = some_function(…); /* → empty line here would be bad */ if (r < 0) return log_error_errno(r, "Some function failed: %m"); /* → empty line here is good */ ``` - In shell scripts, do not use whitespace after the redirection operator (`>some/file` instead of `> some/file`, `<<EOF` instead of `<< EOF`). ## Code Organization and Semantics - For our codebase we intend to use ISO C11 *with* GNU extensions (aka "gnu11"). Public APIs (i.e. those we expose via `libsystemd.so` i.e. `systemd/sd-*.h`) should only use ISO C89 however (with a very limited set of conservative and common extensions, such as fixed size integer types from `<inttypes.h>`), so that we don't force consuming programs into C11 mode. (This discrepancy in particular means one thing: internally we use C99 `bool` booleans, externally C89-compatible `int` booleans which generally have different size in memory and slightly different semantics, also see below.) Both for internal and external code it's OK to use even newer features and GCC extension than "gnu11", as long as there's reasonable fallback #ifdeffery in place to ensure compatibility is retained with older compilers. - Please name structures in `PascalCase` (with exceptions, such as public API structs), variables and functions in `snake_case`. - Avoid static variables, except for caches and very few other cases. Think about thread-safety! While most of our code is never used in threaded environments, at least the library code should make sure it works correctly in them. Instead of doing a lot of locking for that, we tend to prefer using TLS to do per-thread caching (which only works for small, fixed-size cache objects), or we disable caching for any thread that is not the main thread. Use `is_main_thread()` to detect whether the calling thread is the main thread. - Typically, function parameters fit into four categories: input parameters, mutable objects, call-by-reference return parameters that are initialized on success, and call-by-reference return parameters that are initialized on failure. Input parameters should always carry suitable `const` declarators if they are pointers, to indicate they are input-only and not changed by the function. The name of return parameters that are initialized on success should be prefixed with `ret_`, to clarify they are return parameters. The name of return parameters that are initialized on failure should be prefixed with `reterr_`. (Examples of such parameters: those which carry additional error information, such as the row/column of parse errors or so). – Conversely, please do not prefix parameters that aren't output-only with `ret_` or `reterr_`, in particular not mutable parameters that are both input as well as output. Example: ```c static int foobar_frobnicate( Foobar *object, /* the associated mutable object */ const char *input, /* immutable input parameter */ char **ret_frobnicated, /* return parameter on success */ unsigned *reterr_line, /* return parameter on failure */ unsigned *reterr_column) { /* ditto */ … return 0; } ``` - Do not write functions that clobber call-by-reference success return parameters on failure (i.e. `ret_xyz`, see above), or that clobber call-by-reference failure return parameters on success (i.e. `reterr_xyz`). Use temporary variables for these cases and change the passed in variables only in the right condition. The rule is: never clobber success return parameters on failure, always initialize success return parameters on success (and the reverse for failure return parameters, of course). - Please put `reterr_` return parameters in the function parameter list last, and `ret_` return parameters immediately before that. Good: ```c static int do_something( const char *input, const char *ret_on_success, const char *reterr_on_failure); ``` Not good: ```c static int do_something( const char *reterr_on_failure, const char *ret_on_success, const char *input); ``` - The order in which header files are included doesn't matter too much. systemd-internal headers must not rely on an include order, so it is safe to include them in any order possible. However, to not clutter global includes, and to make sure internal definitions will not affect global headers, please always include the headers of external components first (these are all headers enclosed in <>), followed by our own exported headers (usually everything that's prefixed by `sd-`), and then followed by internal headers. Furthermore, in all three groups, order all includes alphabetically so duplicate includes can easily be detected. - Please avoid using global variables as much as you can. And if you do use them make sure they are static at least, instead of exported. Especially in library-like code it is important to avoid global variables. Why are global variables bad? They usually hinder generic reusability of code (since they break in threaded programs, and usually would require locking there), and as the code using them has side-effects make programs non-transparent. That said, there are many cases where they explicitly make a lot of sense, and are OK to use. For example, the log level and target in `log.c` is stored in a global variable, and that's OK and probably expected by most. Also in many cases we cache data in global variables. If you add more caches like this, please be careful however, and think about threading. Only use static variables if you are sure that thread-safety doesn't matter in your case. Alternatively, consider using TLS, which is pretty easy to use with gcc's `thread_local` concept. It's also OK to store data that is inherently global in global variables, for example, data parsed from command lines, see below. - Our focus is on the GNU libc (glibc), not any other libcs. If other libcs are incompatible with glibc it's on them. However, if there are equivalent POSIX and Linux/GNU-specific APIs, we generally prefer the POSIX APIs. If there aren't, we are happy to use GNU or Linux APIs, and expect non-GNU implementations of libc to catch up with glibc. ## Using C Constructs - Allocate local variables where it makes sense: at the top of the block, or at the point where they can be initialized. Avoid huge variable declaration lists at the top of the function. As an exception, `int r` is typically used for a local state variable, but should almost always be declared as the last variable at the top of the function. ```c { uint64_t a; int r; r = frobnicate(&a); if (r < 0) … uint64_t b = a + 1, c; r = foobarify(a, b, &c); if (r < 0) … const char *pretty = prettify(a, b, c); … } ``` - Do not mix multiple variable definitions with function invocations or complicated expressions: ```c { uint64_t x = 7; int a; a = foobar(); } ``` instead of: ```c { int a = foobar(); uint64_t x = 7; } ``` - Use `goto` for cleaning up, and only use it for that. I.e. you may only jump to the end of a function, and little else. Never jump backwards! - To minimize strict aliasing violations, we prefer unions over casting. - Instead of using `memzero()`/`memset()` to initialize structs allocated on the stack, please try to use c99 structure initializers. It's short, prettier and actually even faster at execution. Hence: ```c struct foobar t = { .foo = 7, .bar = "bazz", }; ``` instead of: ```c struct foobar t; zero(t); t.foo = 7; t.bar = "bazz"; ``` - To implement an endless loop, use `for (;;)` rather than `while (1)`. The latter is a bit ugly anyway, since you probably really meant `while (true)`. To avoid the discussion what the right always-true expression for an infinite while loop is, our recommendation is to simply write it without any such expression by using `for (;;)`. - To determine the length of a constant string `"foo"`, don't bother with `sizeof("foo")-1`, please use `strlen()` instead (both gcc and clang optimize the call away for fixed strings). The only exception is when declaring an array. In that case use `STRLEN()`, which evaluates to a static constant and doesn't force the compiler to create a VLA. - Please use C's downgrade-to-bool feature only for expressions that are actually booleans (or "boolean-like"), and not for variables that are really numeric. Specifically, if you have an `int b` and it's only used in a boolean sense, by all means check its state with `if (b) …` — but if `b` can actually have more than two semantic values, and you want to compare for non-zero, then please write that explicitly with `if (b != 0) …`. This helps readability as the value range and semantical behaviour is directly clear from the condition check. As a special addition: when dealing with pointers which you want to check for non-NULL-ness, you may also use downgrade-to-bool feature. - Please do not use yoda comparisons, i.e. please prefer the more readable `if (a == 7)` over the less readable `if (7 == a)`. ## Destructors - The destructors always deregister the object from the next bigger object, not the other way around. - For robustness reasons, destructors should be able to destruct half-initialized objects, too. - When you define a destructor or `unref()` call for an object, please accept a `NULL` object and simply treat this as NOP. This is similar to how libc `free()` works, which accepts `NULL` pointers and becomes a NOP for them. By following this scheme a lot of `if` checks can be removed before invoking your destructor, which makes the code substantially more readable and robust. - Related to this: when you define a destructor or `unref()` call for an object, please make it return the same type it takes and always return `NULL` from it. This allows writing code like this: ```c p = foobar_unref(p); ``` which will always work regardless if `p` is initialized or not, and guarantees that `p` is `NULL` afterwards, all in just one line. ## Common Function Naming - Name destructor functions that destroy an object in full freeing all its memory and associated resources (and thus invalidating the pointer to it) `xyz_free()`. Example: `strv_free()`. - Name destructor functions that destroy only the referenced content of an object but leave the object itself allocated `xyz_done()`. If it resets all fields so that the object can be reused later call it `xyz_clear()`. - Functions that decrease the reference counter of an object by one should be called `xyz_unref()`. Example: `json_variant_unref()`. Functions that increase the reference counter by one should be called `xyz_ref()`. Example: `json_variant_ref()` ## Error Handling - Error codes are returned as negative `Exxx`. e.g. `return -EINVAL`. There are some exceptions: for constructors, it is OK to return `NULL` on OOM. For lookup functions, `NULL` is fine too for "not found". Be strict with this. When you write a function that can fail due to more than one cause, it *really* should have an `int` as the return value for the error code. - libc system calls typically return -1 on error (with the error code in `errno`), and >= 0 on success. Use the RET_NERRNO() helper if you are looking for a simple way to convert this libc style error returning into systemd style error returning. e.g. ```c … r = RET_NERRNO(unlink(t)); … ``` or ```c … r = RET_NERRNO(open("/some/file", O_RDONLY|O_CLOEXEC)); … ``` - Do not bother with error checking whether writing to stdout/stderr worked. - Do not log errors from "library" code, only do so from "main program" code. (With one exception: it is OK to log with DEBUG level from any code, with the exception of maybe inner loops). - In public API calls, you **must** validate all your input arguments for programming error with `assert_return()` and return a sensible return code. In all other calls, it is recommended to check for programming errors with a more brutal `assert()`. We are more forgiving to public users than for ourselves! Note that `assert()` and `assert_return()` really only should be used for detecting programming errors, not for runtime errors. `assert()` and `assert_return()` by usage of `_likely_()` inform the compiler that it should not expect these checks to fail, and they inform fellow programmers about the expected validity and range of parameters. - When you invoke certain calls like `unlink()`, or `mkdir_p()` and you know it is safe to ignore the error it might return (because a later call would detect the failure anyway, or because the error is in an error path and you thus couldn't do anything about it anyway), then make this clear by casting the invocation explicitly to `(void)`. Code checks like Coverity understand that, and will not complain about ignored error codes. Hence, please use this: ```c (void) unlink("/foo/bar/baz"); ``` instead of just this: ```c unlink("/foo/bar/baz"); ``` When returning from a `void` function, you may also want to shorten the error path boilerplate by returning a function invocation cast to `(void)` like so: ```c if (condition_not_met) return (void) log_tests_skipped("Cannot run ..."); ``` Don't cast function calls to `(void)` that return no error conditions. Specifically, the various `xyz_unref()` calls that return a `NULL` object shouldn't be cast to `(void)`, since not using the return value does not hide any errors. - When returning a return code from `main()`, please preferably use `EXIT_FAILURE` and `EXIT_SUCCESS` as defined by libc. ## Logging - For every function you add, think about whether it is a "logging" function or a "non-logging" function. "Logging" functions do (non-debug) logging on their own, "non-logging" functions never log on their own (except at debug level) and expect their callers to log. All functions in "library" code, i.e. in `src/shared/` and suchlike must be "non-logging". Every time a "logging" function calls a "non-logging" function, it should log about the resulting errors. If a "logging" function calls another "logging" function, then it should not generate log messages, so that log messages are not generated twice for the same errors. (Note that debug level logging — at syslog level `LOG_DEBUG` — is not considered logging in this context, debug logging is generally always fine and welcome.) - If possible, do a combined log & return operation: ```c r = operation(...); if (r < 0) return log_(error|warning|notice|...)_errno(r, "Failed to ...: %m"); ``` If the error value is "synthetic", i.e. it was not received from the called function, use `SYNTHETIC_ERRNO` wrapper to tell the logging system to not log the errno value, but still return it: ```c n = read(..., s, sizeof s); if (n != sizeof s) return log_error_errno(SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(EIO), "Failed to read ..."); ``` ## Memory Allocation - Always check OOM. There is no excuse. In program code, you can use `log_oom()` for then printing a short message, but not in "library" code. - Avoid fixed-size string buffers, unless you really know the maximum size and that maximum size is small. It is often nicer to use dynamic memory, `alloca_safe()` or VLAs. If you do allocate fixed-size strings on the stack, then it is probably only OK if you either use a maximum size such as `LINE_MAX`, or count in detail the maximum size a string can have. (`DECIMAL_STR_MAX` and `DECIMAL_STR_WIDTH` macros are your friends for this!) Or in other words, if you use `char buf[256]` then you are likely doing something wrong! - Make use of `_cleanup_free_` and friends. It makes your code much nicer to read (and shorter)! - Do not use `alloca()`, `strdupa()` or `strndupa()` directly. Use `alloca_safe()`, `strdupa_safe()` or `strndupa_safe()` instead. (The difference is that the latter include an assertion that the specified size is below a safety threshold, so that the program rather aborts than runs into possible stack overruns.) - Use `alloca_safe()`, but never forget that it is not OK to invoke `alloca_safe()` within a loop or within function call parameters. `alloca_safe()` memory is released at the end of a function, and not at the end of a `{}` block. Thus, if you invoke it in a loop, you keep increasing the stack pointer without ever releasing memory again. (VLAs have better behavior in this case, so consider using them as an alternative.) Regarding not using `alloca_safe()` within function parameters, see the BUGS section of the `alloca(3)` man page. - If you want to concatenate two or more strings, consider using `strjoina()` or `strjoin()` rather than `asprintf()`, as the latter is a lot slower. This matters particularly in inner loops (but note that `strjoina()` cannot be used there). ## Runtime Behaviour - Avoid leaving long-running child processes around, i.e. `fork()`s that are not followed quickly by an `execv()` in the child. Resource management is unclear in this case, and memory CoW will result in unexpected penalties in the parent much, much later on. - Don't block execution for arbitrary amounts of time using `usleep()` or a similar call, unless you really know what you do. Just "giving something some time", or so is a lazy excuse. Always wait for the proper event, instead of doing time-based poll loops. - Whenever installing a signal handler, make sure to set `SA_RESTART` for it, so that interrupted system calls are automatically restarted, and we minimize hassles with handling `EINTR` (in particular as `EINTR` handling is pretty broken on Linux). - When applying C-style unescaping as well as specifier expansion on the same string, always apply the C-style unescaping first, followed by the specifier expansion. When doing the reverse, make sure to escape `%` in specifier-style first (i.e. `%` → `%%`), and then do C-style escaping where necessary. - Be exceptionally careful when formatting and parsing floating point numbers. Their syntax is locale dependent (i.e. `5.000` in en_US is generally understood as 5, while in de_DE as 5000.). - Make sure to enforce limits on every user controllable resource. If the user can allocate resources in your code, your code must enforce some form of limits after which it will refuse operation. It's fine if it is hard-coded (at least initially), but it needs to be there. This is particularly important for objects that unprivileged users may allocate, but also matters for everything else any user may allocate. - Please use `secure_getenv()` for all environment variable accesses, unless it's clear that `getenv()` would be the better choice. This matters in particular in `src/basic/` and `src/shared/` (i.e. library code that might end up in unexpected processes), but should be followed everywhere else too (in order to make it unproblematic to move code around). To say this clearly: the default should be `secure_getenv()`, the exception should be regular `getenv()`. ## Types - Think about the types you use. If a value cannot sensibly be negative, do not use `int`, but use `unsigned`. We prefer `unsigned` form to `unsigned int`. - Use `char` only for actual characters. Use `uint8_t` or `int8_t` when you actually mean a byte-sized signed or unsigned integers. When referring to a generic byte, we generally prefer the unsigned variant `uint8_t`. Do not use types based on `short`. They *never* make sense. Use `int`, `long`, `long long`, all in unsigned and signed fashion, and the fixed-size types `uint8_t`, `uint16_t`, `uint32_t`, `uint64_t`, `int8_t`, `int16_t`, `int32_t` and so on, as well as `size_t`, but nothing else. Do not use kernel types like `u32` and so on, leave that to the kernel. - Stay uniform. For example, always use `usec_t` for time values. Do not mix `usec` and `msec`, and `usec` and whatnot. - Never use the `off_t` type, and particularly avoid it in public APIs. It's really weirdly defined, as it usually is 64-bit and we don't support it any other way, but it could in theory also be 32-bit. Which one it is depends on a compiler switch chosen by the compiled program, which hence corrupts APIs using it unless they can also follow the program's choice. Moreover, in systemd we should parse values the same way on all architectures and cannot expose `off_t` values over D-Bus. To avoid any confusion regarding conversion and ABIs, always use simply `uint64_t` directly. - Unless you allocate an array, `double` is always a better choice than `float`. Processors speak `double` natively anyway, so there is no speed benefit, and on calls like `printf()` `float`s get promoted to `double`s anyway, so there is no point. - Use the bool type for booleans, not integers. One exception: in public headers (i.e those in `src/systemd/sd-*.h`) use integers after all, as `bool` is C99 and in our public APIs we try to stick to C89 (with a few extensions; also see above). ## Deadlocks - Do not issue NSS requests (that includes user name and hostname lookups) from PID 1 as this might trigger deadlocks when those lookups involve synchronously talking to services that we would need to start up. - Do not synchronously talk to any other service from PID 1, due to risk of deadlocks. ## File Descriptors - When you allocate a file descriptor, it should be made `O_CLOEXEC` right from the beginning, as none of our files should leak to forked binaries by default. Hence, whenever you open a file, `O_CLOEXEC` must be specified, right from the beginning. This also applies to sockets. Effectively, this means that all invocations to: - `open()` must get `O_CLOEXEC` passed, - `socket()` and `socketpair()` must get `SOCK_CLOEXEC` passed, - `recvmsg()` must get `MSG_CMSG_CLOEXEC` set, - `F_DUPFD_CLOEXEC` should be used instead of `F_DUPFD`, and so on, - invocations of `fopen()` should take `e`. - It's a good idea to use `O_NONBLOCK` when opening 'foreign' regular files, i.e. file system objects that are supposed to be regular files whose paths were specified by the user and hence might actually refer to other types of file system objects. This is a good idea so that we don't end up blocking on 'strange' file nodes, for example, if the user pointed us to a FIFO or device node which may block when opening. Moreover even for actual regular files `O_NONBLOCK` has a benefit: it bypasses any mandatory lock that might be in effect on the regular file. If in doubt consider turning off `O_NONBLOCK` again after opening. - These days we generally prefer `openat()`-style file APIs, i.e. APIs that accept a combination of file descriptor and path string, and where the path (if not absolute) is considered relative to the specified file descriptor. When implementing library calls in similar style, please make sure to imply `AT_EMPTY_PATH` if an empty or `NULL` path argument is specified (and convert that latter to an empty string). This differs from the underlying kernel semantics, where `AT_EMPTY_PATH` must always be specified explicitly, and `NULL` is not accepted as path. ## Command Line - If you parse a command line, and want to store the parsed parameters in global variables, please consider prefixing their names with `arg_`. We have been following this naming rule in most of our tools, and we should continue to do so, as it makes it easy to identify command line parameter variables, and makes it clear why it is OK that they are global variables. - Command line option parsing: - Do not print full `help()` on error, be specific about the error. - Do not print messages to stdout on error. - Do not POSIX_ME_HARDER unless necessary, i.e. avoid `+` in option string. ## Exporting Symbols - Variables and functions **must** be static, unless they have a prototype, and are supposed to be exported. - Public API calls (i.e. functions exported by our shared libraries) must be marked `_public_` and need to be prefixed with `sd_`. No other functions should be prefixed like that. - When exposing public C APIs, be careful what function parameters you make `const`. For example, a parameter taking a context object should probably not be `const`, even if you are writing an otherwise read-only accessor function for it. The reason is that making it `const` fixates the contract that your call won't alter the object ever, as part of the API. However, that's often quite a promise, given that this even prohibits object-internal caching or lazy initialization of object variables. Moreover, it's usually not too useful for client applications. Hence, please be careful and avoid `const` on object parameters, unless you are very sure `const` is appropriate. ## Referencing Concepts - When referring to a configuration file option in the documentation and such, please always suffix it with `=`, to indicate that it is a configuration file setting. - When referring to a command line option in the documentation and such, please always prefix with `--` or `-` (as appropriate), to indicate that it is a command line option. - When referring to a file system path that is a directory, please always suffix it with `/`, to indicate that it is a directory, not a regular file (or other file system object). ## Functions to Avoid - Use `memzero()` or even better `zero()` instead of `memset(..., 0, ...)` - Please use `streq()` and `strneq()` instead of `strcmp()`, `strncmp()` where applicable (i.e. wherever you just care about equality/inequality, not about the sorting order). - Never use `strtol()`, `atoi()` and similar calls. Use `safe_atoli()`, `safe_atou32()` and suchlike instead. They are much nicer to use in most cases and correctly check for parsing errors. - `htonl()`/`ntohl()` and `htons()`/`ntohs()` are weird. Please use `htobe32()` and `htobe16()` instead, it's much more descriptive, and actually says what really is happening, after all `htonl()` and `htons()` don't operate on `long`s and `short`s as their name would suggest, but on `uint32_t` and `uint16_t`. Also, "network byte order" is just a weird name for "big endian", hence we might want to call it "big endian" right-away. - Use `typesafe_inet_ntop()`, `typesafe_inet_ntop4()`, and `typesafe_inet_ntop6()` instead of `inet_ntop()`. But better yet, use the `IN_ADDR_TO_STRING()`, `IN4_ADDR_TO_STRING()`, and `IN6_ADDR_TO_STRING()` macros which allocate an anonymous buffer internally. - Please never use `dup()`. Use `fcntl(fd, F_DUPFD_CLOEXEC, 3)` instead. For two reasons: first, you want `O_CLOEXEC` set on the new `fd` (see above). Second, `dup()` will happily duplicate your `fd` as 0, 1, 2, i.e. stdin, stdout, stderr, should those `fd`s be closed. Given the special semantics of those `fd`s, it's probably a good idea to avoid them. `F_DUPFD_CLOEXEC` with `3` as parameter avoids them. - Don't use `fgets()`, it's too hard to properly handle errors such as overly long lines. Use `read_line()` instead, which is our own function that handles this much more nicely. - Don't invoke `exit()`, ever. It is not replacement for proper error handling. Please escalate errors up your call chain, and use normal `return` to exit from the main function of a process. If you `fork()`ed off a child process, please use `_exit()` instead of `exit()`, so that the exit handlers are not run. - Do not use `basename()` or `dirname()`. The semantics in corner cases are full of pitfalls, and the fact that there are two quite different versions of `basename()` (one POSIX and one GNU, of which the latter is much more useful) doesn't make it better either. Use path_extract_filename() and path_extract_directory() instead. - Never use `FILENAME_MAX`. Use `PATH_MAX` instead (for checking maximum size of paths) and `NAME_MAX` (for checking maximum size of filenames). `FILENAME_MAX` is not POSIX, and is a confusingly named alias for `PATH_MAX` on Linux. Note that `NAME_MAX` does not include space for a trailing `NUL`, but `PATH_MAX` does. UNIX FTW! ## Committing to git - Commit message subject lines should be prefixed with an appropriate component name of some kind. For example, "journal: ", "nspawn: " and so on. - Do not use "Signed-Off-By:" in your commit messages. That's a kernel thing we don't do in the systemd project. ## Commenting - The best place for code comments and explanations is in the code itself. Only the second best is in git commit messages. The worst place is in the GitHub PR cover letter. Hence, whenever you type a commit message consider for a moment if what you are typing there wouldn't be a better fit for an in-code comment. And if you type the cover letter of a PR, think hard if this wouldn't be better as a commit message or even code comment. Comments are supposed to be useful for somebody who reviews the code, and hence hiding comments in git commits or PR cover letters makes reviews unnecessarily hard. Moreover, while we rely heavily on GitHub's project management infrastructure we'd like to keep everything that can reasonably be kept in the git repository itself in the git repository, so that we can theoretically move things elsewhere with the least effort possible. - It's OK to reference GitHub PRs, GitHub issues and git commits from code comments. Cross-referencing code, issues, and documentation is a good thing. - Reasonable use of non-ASCII Unicode UTF-8 characters in code comments is welcome. If your code comment contains an emoji or two this will certainly brighten the day of the occasional reviewer of your code. Really! 😊 ## Threading - We generally avoid using threads, to the level this is possible. In particular in the service manager/PID 1 threads are not OK to use. This is because you cannot mix memory allocation in threads with use of glibc's `clone()` call, or manual `clone()`/`clone3()` system call wrappers. Only glibc's own `fork()` call will properly synchronize the memory allocation locks around the process clone operation. This means that if a process is cloned via `clone()`/`clone3()` and another thread currently has the `malloc()` lock taken, it will be cloned in locked state to the child, and thus can never be acquired in the child, leading to deadlocks. Hence, when using `clone()`/`clone3()` there are only two ways out: never use threads in the parent, or never do memory allocation in the child. For our uses we need `clone()`/`clone3()` and hence decided to avoid threads. Of course, sometimes the concurrency threads allow is beneficial, however we suggest forking off worker *processes* rather than worker *threads* for this purpose, ideally even with an `execve()` to remove the CoW trap situation `fork()` easily triggers. - A corollary of the above is: never use `clone()` where a `fork()` would do too. Also consider using `posix_spawn()` which combines `clone()` + `execve()` into one and has nice properties since it avoids becoming a CoW trap by using `CLONE_VFORK` and `CLONE_VM` together. - While we avoid forking off threads on our own, writing thread-safe code is a good idea where it might end up running inside of libsystemd.so or similar. Hence, use TLS (i.e. `thread_local`) where appropriate, and maybe the occasional `pthread_once()`. ## Tests - Use the assertion macros from `tests.h` (`ASSERT_GE()`, `ASSERT_OK()`, ...) to make sure a descriptive error is logged when an assertion fails. If no assertion macro exists for your specific use case, please add a new assertion macro in a separate commit. - When modifying existing tests, please convert the test to use the new assertion macros from `tests.h` if it is not already using those.
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